Jay Z - Magna Carta...Holy Grail

A Jay-Z, sorry, Jay Z, release is a major event in the hip-hop landscape and following big releases by Kanye and J Cole this summer, Magna Carta...Holy Grail is no exception and perhaps finds Hova under more pressure than usual to prove he can still be relevant.

Relevance is a subjective quality but I doubt many listeners even care to relate to the rut of excessive wealth demonstrations that Jay Z has found himself in these days. As credible as it is that the currency denominations most rappers brag of are small change to the guy, 'F*** it, I want a trillion', does anyone care about the guy's art collection. I assume that Jay Z's next album will have some deal with Jean Michel Basquiat's estate given the number of references to the artist on MCHG. Jay Z has always name dropped references to fashion houses, case in point being Change Clothes from The Black Album, but the influence of Kanye, Watch the Throne and the Kanye in particular's growing relationship with Paris seems to have resulted in some bad habits. I wouldn't mind so much if the references resulted in some inspired wordplay but MCHG is bogged down by really lame, tired lyrics, repetitively name dropping everything from artists, cars, clothes, basketball teams and athletes, all used to express Jay's uber-wealth. No where is this more evident than tracks Picasso Baby and most criminally Tom Ford, which may be the most uninspired track Jay Z has ever penned, but what do you expect from a track inspired by his favourite suit designer. Only on F.U.T.W does Hov use his wealth to express the difficulties of being considered successful considering what he's come from. 

Lyrically, the above aside, overall MCHG is better than The Blueprint 3 and Jay is still capable of putting some strong wordplay together. Heaven, F.U.T.W. and Nickels and Dimes are the best evidence of this. MCHG is Jay's most personal album to date and tracks, Holy Grail, Part II (On the Run) and Jay Z Blue find the new dad discussing the impact of fame on his life, his relationship with Beyonce and his feelings on fatherhood. Maybe going back to the relevance, MCHG seems incomplete without some King of New York inspired tracks, throwbacks to the hood or shots at individuals rather than the exclusive nouveau-rich and issues with winning art auctions.

Flow wise I'm really not feeling the style Hov seems to be adopting of late, going back through Watch the Throne to The Blueprint 3. I don't know what it is specifically but more often than not he seems to be struggling to flow in time with the beats on offer and ends up extending his words to fit bars or more noticeably on MCHG, adopting a Rick Ross style 'uhh' at the beginning or end of lines. Listen to some of his old stuff, The Blueprint or his verse on Diamonds are Forever Remix, there's no denying that the guy has flowed better. Perhaps inevitably after so long in the business, MCHG is not a man at his prime.   

The production on MCHG is hard to fault. For whatever reason Kanye West and the varied cast of producers used on Watch the Throne are nowhere to be seen, No. ID contributes to only one track, and after being benched for Watch The Throne, Jay chose to re-assemble the big hitters, Timbaland (and his cohort J-Roc) and Pharell for the majority of MCHG's tracks. It was a safe option and could have backfired but the duo combine across the album to produce some lively, expansive and layered beats and truth be told its Jay who doesn't always deliver from his side. Jay Z and guest Rick Ross really waste a great beat from Boi-1da on FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt with some lacklustre rhyming.

In conclusion, while MCHG is by no means a bad album, the production alone saves it from that, but it is far from the strongest entry in Jay Z's catalogue. Lyrically, both in terms of content and delivery, Hov has been fresher and stronger but the album does have enough going for it with the beats and more relatable, considered lyrics to make it a worthwhile listen. Personally for a more personal album I prefer Nas' Life is Good and after a few listens to MCHG I found myself returning to Yeezus.

Best guest: Nas

Standout tracks: Heaven, Holy Grail, F.U.T.W, BBC

Best bars: (F.U.T.W)
America tried to emasculate the greats

Murder Malcolm, gave Cassius the shakes

Wait, tell them rumble young man rumble

Try to dim your lights, tell you be humble

You know I'm gon' shine like a trillion watts

You know a n**** trill as Michael Jackson socks

Sendin' light out to Compton and the hundred blocks

Lil' bastard boy, basking on top......

Make a million, another million, let my n****as make a million

Shit, it's just the way I'm feeling

We have yet to see a ceiling, we just top what we top

Cause the bars don't struggle and the struggle don't stop

Lyrics: 

Beats:

Overall:

Kanye West - Yeezus

Seemingly out of nowhere, with no promotion or hype, Kanye West dropped Yeezus, his sixth solo studio album. On album opener On Sight, after declaring that 'Yeezy season approaches', West warns that 'a monster about to come alive again'. As it turns out, this monster is a different kind of monster to the posse track of the same name on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but is West at his most eclectic, self-indulgent best and worst.

Yeezus rivals 808's & Heartbreak as West's most inaccessible album to date and to the mainstream at least, comes across as a challenging, almost surreal mixture of styles ranging from acid house and electronic dance music to dancehall and Hungarian rock, all clearly designed to shock. This is West at his most experimental, and even coming from a man who gave us an album of auto-tuned warbles, it still achieves it's shock this after repeated listens. The Daft Punk produced opener On Sight sets the tone as the albums most offensive track to the ears, with it's hard, distorted acid house beat likely to strike fear into the first time listener. Mid way through the track though, West cuts the music and brings in a choir sample to bridge to the next verse. This is typical of several tracks and does lead to some of the albums highlights, notably the combination of West and Frank Ocean's singing at the end of New Slaves or the final third of Bound 2 as songs switch up and change focus.

Rick Rubin was brought in to 'minimalise' the album's production at the last minute and I would love to hear the original cut as the final one still sounds deep in layers of samples and bass lines. One thing Rubin could have done was remove the annoying end-of-bar synth that West seems to have picked up as this plagues tracks Blood On the Leaves, Hold My Liquor and Black Skinhead, the production of which is credited to West, Daft Punk, Mike Dean, Lupe Fiasco, No I.D. and Salem, to name a few. Yeezus is as sample heavy as West's previous efforts but noticeably West has ignored his typical soul samples for the electric mix of industrial electronica and dancehall vocals and it lacks a cohesive listen.    

So, the beats are a-typical, abrasive, shocking but unfulfilling. Unfortunately the lyrics are not up to West's usual standard either and for me that was a bigger disappointment. Although not the greatest MC that ever graced the mic, West is usually capable of intelligent and witty rhymes and I'm a fan of his typically goofy style. However, on Yeezus he seems so wound up that a lot of his wordplay lacks the witty, fun nature and basic quality that he is capable of. According to Rubin, he rushed the lyrics, wrote the majority in two hours and some at the last minute. If that is true, and listening to some of the lines, it seems wholly plausible, then am I the only one who wants to know why?! In what world is that a justification for a sub-par product? Yeezus isn't without good lines, 'in a French-ass restaurant, hurry up with my DAMN croissant!', but generally in between the occasionally hypocritical, aggressive social themes, and the sexually charged misogynistic lines 'Eatin' Asian p*ssy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce', there's little West left.

Thematically, Yeezus, is much closer to 808's than other albums. Break-ups and relationships , past and present, feature centrally on Blood On the Leaves, Hold My Liquor and Bound 2, and in another common trait, West digs out the auto-tuner on several tracks. He obviously wasn't listening when his 'big brother' declared it's death on The Blueprint III. The worst offender Guilt Trip sounds as if it missed the cut for 808's.

At under 40 minutes, Yeezus is a short experience, and with a couple of weaker tracks nearer the end, I'm In It, Send It Up and the aforementioned Guilt Trip, it is even shorter and closer Bound 2, the albums stand out track, really saves the day and its no coincidence that the track is the outcast of the album in being most traditionally Kanye.

According to the choir on On Sight, 'he'll give us what we need, it may not be what we want', unfortunately really what we are given in the form of Yeezus is what Kanye wants regardless of what we may need. Yet for all it's flaws, Yeezus is an undeniably fascinating beast, and sharing it's creators nature, one that demands attention.  

Best guest: Charlie Wilson

Standout tracks: Bound 2, Hold My Liquor, I Am A God

Best bars: (Bound 2)
Hey, you remember where we first met
Okay, I don't remember where we first met
But hey, admitting is the first step
And hey, you know ain't nobody perfect
And I know, with the hoes I got the worst rep
But hey, their backstroke I'm tryna perfect
And hey, ayo, we made it, Thanksgiving
So hey, maybe we can make it to Christmas
She asked me what I wished for on my wishlist
Have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches
Maybe we could still make it to the church steps
But first, you gon' remember how to forget
After all these long ass verses,
I'm tired, you tired, Jesus wept

Lyrics: 

Beats:

Overall:

E-40 - Tha Hall of Game

Released way back in 1996, Tha Hall of Game was E-40's third release (of eight) on Jive following Federal and In A Major Way, in a prolific career that would see him release a massive fourteen albums (or nineteen if you count his double and triple releases post 2010).

E-40's abstract flow and trademark vocabulary have always appealed to my ears since I first caught him and The Click on Ain't Hard to Find on 2Pac's All Eyez on Me but this is first time I've dived into his discography any further back than the turn of the century.

Looking back at Tha Hall of Game this seemed to be the time in his career that Earl started to question his lack of success, due to what he deemed as unfair treatment, outside of the West Coast, 'messy hoes got my name stuck between they teeth, just because I'm from the West and not the East'. This is a theme that would manifest itself into 40's later works as his frustrations grew (To Whom This May Concern on Loyalty & Betrayal, Why They Don't F**k Wit Us on Grit and Grind). The album starts on this basis as 40 comes hard out of the traps on Record Haters, firing shots at Rasheed Wallace, AZ and those questioning his place in the rap game. 

Although E-40 has unquestionably honed his inimitable style since Tha Hall of Game and expanded his vocabulary in later years, he was still just as original back in 1996 and every track features some 40-slang be it 'marinating on the corner' or 'sprinkle me mayne'. The first verse on the tribute song I Wanna Thank You highlights the capabilities of his flow as he jumps up, down, speeds up and slows down to ride the beat in an almost cartoonish manner. In between the partying and pimping, E-40 throws in a couple of socially conscious songs, a trait that would continue into the future. These songs, The Story (with Beastie Boys sample) and Things'll Never Change (released prior to 2Pac's Changes but with the same The Way It Is sample) are among the albums stronger moments.

Unlike some of his later releases, the guest appearances keep the album a straight Bay area jam, as the likes of Spice 1, Too $hort, B-Legit and 2Pac appear on tracks. I can't help but wonder that perhaps by not branching out to a more varied cast of guests, without compromising his style as he would do in later years with his Lil' Jon collaborations, E-40 is partly responsible for his low exposure on the East Coast.

Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the production on the album. The G-funk tracks have aged poorly in comparison with similar tracks from this era and for me quite a few of the Bay area numbers (produced by Studio Ton or Rick Rock) just aren't interesting enough to make the album a really enjoyable listen worth coming back to. The best songs come from Mike Moseley and Femi Ojetunde who are responsible for Million Dollar Spot, The Story and Things'll Never Change. The beat on Ring It is an atrocity and it doesn't help that the track itself is pure throwaway filler.

Although Tha Hall of Game has some stand-out moments, I really expected more from a much championed entry into the E-40 discography.

Best guest: 2Pac

Standout tracks: I Like What You Do To Me, Rapper's Ball, Million Dollar Spot 

Best bars: (Record Haters)
This game is so damn haemorrhaging, that I be delivering
These n***as don't understand my shit, but they surrendering
Simmering, remembering things that done jumped off
Lyrics spit on n***as like a bad cough
Messy hoes got my name stuck between they teeth
Just because I'm from the West and not the East
Graduated from the dope game, phat ass wallets
What's that n***as name, Rasheed Wallace!

Lyrics: 

Beats:






Overall:

Kurupt

Born Ricardo Brown in 1972 in Philly, Kurupt moved west to L.A. and became of a mainstay of the West Coast scene during it's 1990's heyday and subsequent decline post millenium.



Kurupt, Kurupt The Kingpin, Young Gotti

A technically proficient lyricist, Eminem named him on his list of respected rappers on Till I Collapse, 'it goes Reggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac & Biggie, Andre from Outkast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me'. A hard working MC, Kurupt has made over 200 solo guest appearances since 1992 ranging from songs with Snoop Dogg and Krayzie Bone to Yukmouth and Lil' Wayne.

After teaming up with Long Beach residents Snoop Dogg and Daz Dillinger, Kurupt signed to Death Row Records and made his debut on Dr. Dre's 1992 The Chronic, appearing on three tracks.

So any n*gga that claim they bossin', why don't you bring your ass over to Crenshaw and Slauson,

I'm stackin' and mackin' and packin' a ten so,

When you're slippin', I slip the clip in,

But ain't no set trippin [Stranded on Death Row - The Chronic]

He gained further exposure on further Death Row releases Murder Was the Case, Above the Rim and in particular, Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle. During these years, Kurupt and Daz paired up to form The Dogg Pound, making their debut under this name on Doggystyle.

In 1995, The Dogg Pound released their debut album Dogg Food selling 278,000 copies in the first week. Following 2Pac's release from jail and subsequent signing to Death Row, Kurupt and Daz played a supporting role West Coast-East Coast beef, largely thanks to their Dogg Food single New York New York.

Now I'm a bonafide microphone technician with styles, I came to storm on these MCs like eletrical clouds [Smooth - Dogg Food]

Kurupt (middle) with Snoop and Daz

Kurupt left Death Row in 1997 to start his own imprint Antra Records under A&M. On this imprint he released his debut solo album Kuruption! in 1998 comprising of 'West Coast' and 'East Coast' discs to reflect his East Coast birth and West Coast musical allegiance. Although featuring production from Dr. Dre and Daz, away from the Death Row label, Kuruption! didn't sell in the same platinum figures of previous years. He followed this up with Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha (1999) and Space Boogie: Smoke Odyssey (2001). Streetz saw Kurupt return to the West Coast scene and was heavy with features from the Dogg Pound collective of Snoop Dogg, Daz, Warren G, Soopafly, Tray Deee and Nate Dogg, being certified Gold. Smoke Odyssey saw Kurupt produce a more mainstream effort with attempts at crossover hits, notably It's Over featuring his then fiancee Natina Reed. In between Streetz and Smoke Odyssey, Kurupt and Daz released Dillinger & Young Gotti as DPG owing to Death Row owning the rights to The Dogg Pound.

You can tell the gangster as soon as he comes in the door,

He don't wear Calvin Klein, he won't wear Velour,
He got some Cortez, or some Converse on,
All-Stars, G'd up from the hat to the floor [I Call Shots - Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha]

In 2002, Kurupt committed the cardinal sin (in the eyes of the Dogg Pound) of returning to Suge Knight's New Death Row Records. Disowned by Snoop and Daz, his next solo album suffered from the record labels delays and Against the Grain was eventually released in 2005, containing disses towards Daz, by which time Kurupt had left the label a second time and reunited with the Dogg Pound. As seemed fashionable on the West Coast at the time, Kurupt released a number of collaboration albums between 2005 and 2009, teaming up with J. Wells, brother Roscoe and most notably DJ Quik on Blaqkout.

Only one more solo album, Streetlights, released in 2010 and almost entirely produced by Terrace Martin, followed Against the Grain as Kurupt's attention turned back to The Dogg Pound. Kurupt stated that the intermittent releases, Dillinger & Young Gotti II (2005), Cali Iz Active (2006) and Dogg Chit (2007) were really mixtapes and 2010's 100 Wayz is the true second Dogg Pound album. However Cali Iz Active was the most successful of these albums, peaking at #28 on the Billboard 200.